Blue State Delegates Sing The Blues

While Virginia delegates to the Democratic National Convention bask in the glory of being seated on the floor of the Pepsi Center in front of the podium, delegates from Maryland are seated almost as away from the podium as a delegate can get.

The Maryland delegation has been placed off the floor this year, near the top of the first level of stadium seating.

"I'd like to be up front. This is my ninth convention and we've been toward the back, but never this far back," said Loretta Johnston, an Obama delegate from Baltimore County.

But Mary Jo Neville, a delegate from western Howard County, said there is nothing unusual about Maryland's poor placement in the convention seating hierarchy.

Actually, Neville said, Maryland delegates should be honored by how far away from the podium they have been seated because it means they are doing their jobs as party leaders.

Virginia gets on the floor, Neville notes, because it's a swing state that could go either way in presidential race. So convention planners wanted Virginia's voters to see their delegates prominently seated on the floor.

"We are a blue state, so we always perform no matter what," Neville said. "So we get hotels far away and seats in the boonies."

The ones that should be singing the blues are those that do not have a college education and who earn less than $75,000/year. They are not at the convention and are being represented by delegates "who know what is best for them."